TOPEKA — Health officials have ordered Kansas City-area residents to stay at home for 30 days, starting Tuesday, in an effort to slow the rapid spread of COVID-19.

The order affects all but essential services for residents in Johnson and Wyandotte counties, as well as Jackson County on the Missouri side.

The area is a hotbed for confirmed cases of the coronavirus, including the only two deaths from the illness so far in Kansas. At least 55 people in Kansas have tested positive for the virus, including 38 in Johnson and Wyandotte counties.

“If we don’t act, the virus can spread very easily,” said Allen Greiner, chief medical officer for the Kansas City, Kan., unified government. “Sometimes people who have the virus don’t know it. If you are close to someone like this, they can infect you and many others. This is why we must follow the public health order for everyone to stay at home.”

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In Kansas, the report said, at least 75 of the 105 counties in Kansas had no ICU beds. Wyandotte County had the highest concentration in relation to people 60 or older at one ICU bed for every 191 people. At the other end of this list, Cowley County had a deficit reflecting one ICU bed for every 2,083 people over 60.